Zami gathering at 519 Church

Zami gathering at 519 Church

(L-R) Carmen, Courtnay McFarlane, Anthony Mohamed, Deryck Glodon, Alex, Douglas, and Henry Wright.

Photographed by Leif Harmsen
March 1984
Toronto, Ontario
Dye coupler print from a digital image of a gelatin silver print
Gift of Courtnay McFarlane
Courtesy of The Family Camera Network and the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives

Zami was a lesbian and gay Black and Caribbean group formed in Toronto in the 1980s. Zami is a West Indian Creole word for lesbian sex, and was also the title of Audre Lorde’s important 1982 biomythography. Although the group’s focus was on the Black community and anti-Black racism, other members of Toronto’s queer Caribbean diaspora were also welcome.